


There's Not a Step We Can Take That Does Not Bring Us Closer

by nththatclvr



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-18 17:28:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1436701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nththatclvr/pseuds/nththatclvr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Castiel and Jo meet for the first time</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. 3.0

He shook two of the feet at the end of the bed, carefully watching the dark head that resting on a pillow for signs of life. There was a lump next to the man in the bed, a lump that lead to one of the feet he was shaking. 

“Come on, you two, I made French toast.” The words were tossed over his shoulder as he left the bedroom. A blond head emerged from under the blankets, blurry brown eyes trying to focus on the figure moving through the door way. Next to her, she heard a groan as Castiel awoke, his face scrunching up against the light in the room.  
A smirk crossed her face at the sound and the expression. It had been a relief knowing that one of them had a rougher time than she did waking up in the mornings. Cas didn’t make intelligent sounds before a cup of coffee if he could help it. Jo rolled out of bed, where she had been snuggled up to the man for some warmth. She pulled the covers off him and heard him groan again in protest.

“Come on ya, big baby, Dean’s got French toast.” She discarded the blankets on the large bed, next to the dark haired man, his face still scrunched up. Picking one of the boys’ shirt off the floor she padded out of the room, pulling the shirt over her head. 

Dean was in front of the stove in nothing but his boxers. Jo came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, causing him to jump a little.  
“Jesus, you scared me.” He chuckled, trying to laugh off his own embarrassment. Trailing fingers across his stomach, she grinned triumphantly. Startling Dean was one of the small victories she enjoyed to no end. She kissed his shoulder blades before letting him and heading for the fridge. 

“Cas is coming, I think.” She grabbed the bottle orange juice, a jar of jam and the butter from the fridge, setting them on the counter before jumping up on the counter herself. 

“He better unless he wants cold French toast.” Dean turned after flipping over the egg soaked bread, as sizzle undercutting his words. He made breakfast whenever everyone was home for it and he had the time. Weekends were better. Jo and Cas started their days at about the same time but Dean sometimes went in earlier. 

There was a groan from the hallway that made them both turn their heads. The tousled mop of hair was all they could see, Castiel’s head hung with sleep as he dragged his feet into the kitchen. Jo raised an eyebrow at Dean when their eyes met, Cas trudging between them to the coffee maker. Dean shook his head with an amused smirk before he turned back to the French toast that was cooking on the griddle. 

“I thought we discussed weekend mornings.” The gruff was voice made rougher from sleep. It was a voice they were both familiar with in the mornings and loved. Cas could be a little grumpy but hearing that baritone was worth any comments he made. 

“Just drink your coffee, Cas.” Dean chuckled as he started to put the food on plates. Castiel had talked about wanting to sleep in longer on weekends since he really wasn’t a morning person but Dean couldn’t sleep later than ten. Jo was fine with whatever as long as there was food when she did get out of bed. It was a decent set up and Cas didn’t have much to complain about, he was getting fed and there was always coffee ready for him thanks to Dean. 

Cas made a sound but drowned it out with the sound of gulping black coffee down like it water. Jo made a face, she liked coffee but drinking it black wasn’t something she enjoyed much, she had to have her coffee a little sweeter. Cas emerged from the mug a little more focused. His bright blue eyes focused on the woman on the counter.  
“You ready for your fight tonight?” His dark brows were furrowed under the mess of black hair. 

“Shit –” There was a clamoring of metal on the stove. Dean scrambling to fix whatever he had done, breakfast was on the plates and both Jo and Cas didn’t know what he could have done. He turned around quickly, looking more startled than anything, “Sorry. The fights tonight?” 

“Yeah, did you forget?” she raised an arched eyebrow playfully. 

“Yeah,” he looked as apologetic as possible as he handed them plates of food,” I took an extra shift at the shop tonight, I might be able to get out of it but I don’t think I’ll be able to get there in time for the first round.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Dean.” Jo shook her head, setting the plate next to her before she poured herself some orange juice. “Come when you can, it’s not the first fight or the last.”  
“I’ll make sure to take pictures of her bloody and beaten for you.” 

“Thanks, Cas, so much confidence in me.” She shot him a look but he was paying more attention to the breakfast he had in his hands than her.  
“Mhm.” Cas was already shoving large pieces of bread into his mouth. He’d covered it in jam as soon as it was in his hand. The man loved jam more than anyone they knew, and none of them could explain why. He’d live of peanut butter and jam sandwiches and burgers if he didn’t have someone getting him to eat other things. 

“I feel bad, I totally forgot about it.” Dean rubbed the back of his neck, still looking as apologetic as possible. It was a cute look, that she didn’t mind on him but there was no need for him to feel sorry. 

“If you want, you can make it up to me later, but I’m not worried about you missing a fight. Thanks for breakfast.” She nodded toward the plate in her hand, cutting into the French toast with a fork. 

“Yeah no problem.” 

***

The fight was brutal. The first round had been rough on both women, striking and Jo getting tossed to the mat only to come out on top just before the round ended. She took it rougher in the second round. Getting caught against the side, shots to the stomach and kidneys came unrelentingly. She’d almost gave up. On the minute break Dean had gotten there and her cheering section hit full swing. Cas and Dean were louder than almost anyone in the place, or so it seemed to her. 

In the third round, Jo grappled her opponent to the floor and holding her arm in a joint lock till she tapped out. Grappling had been one of her weaknesses before but she had worked on it so much in the last year that it had become one of her strengths. Something she had been extremely proud of and had found incredibly useful. 

When she came off the mat, the first thing she saw was both of her guys cheering for her. Cas had been there taking pictures the entire time just like usual. They both had stupid smiles plastered on their faces and Jo couldn’t help but have one on her face as well. She could feel a bruise on the side of her face forming, the skin pulled tight a she smiled but she didn’t care. She had her boys and she’d won the fight. Nights like that made everything worth it.

“We’re going out tomorrow, to celebrate.” Cas was driving her truck. Dean was in the impala, following them back to the apartment. “I already talked to Dean about it when you were in the locker room.”

“What?” The exhaustion was setting in after the adrenaline of the fight. It’d been a long day and she was about ready to curl up and sleep for twelve hours. She wasn’t thinking about tomorrow, she was thinking about her bed and her two living body pillows keeping her warm. 

“You haven’t lost a fight this season, you’re 6-0, Jo. Last year you were 2-4, this time of the season, you deserve some recognition.” Castiel’s voice was final. When he made up his mind about things Jo had learned not to try to persuade him otherwise. She could see the logic behind it though she hated them making a big deal out of anything she accomplished. She wasn’t one for embellishing anything. When things were over she moved on. She nodded tiredly as they pulled into the parking complex. 

Pulling down the back of the truck to get her bag, she found Castiel beside her. He wrapper her in a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. She pulled back enough to look up into his blue eyes before pulling him down into a kiss. She had a sleepy smile on her face has he pulled away. “Head on up, I’ve got this. Get some rest, Joanna.” 

She scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at the use of her full name but turned and left him to get her bag. Dean was in the apartment before anyone else. Jo plopped down on the couch next to him, a cold beer in hand. 

“I’m beat.” Jo sighed with exhaustion before taking a swig of her drink. 

“At least you didn’t get beat. It was a good fight from what I saw.” Dean wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She welcomed the embrace, nuzzling close to him. “Where’s Cas?” 

“Getting bags.” She drank her beer carefully under his arm. They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to each other breath and drink. Jo could hear his heart beat from where she was curled against him. 

“Ya know,” Dean started, the beer resting on his leg as she watching him rotate it gently in his callused fingers, “I never thought I’d end up like this.”  
“Like what?” She didn’t have to ask but she did anyway. 

“Like us. I never thought I’d be with two people at the same time and have it seem so…normal.” The words sounded differently as he intended, he realized that as he felt Jo move to sit up and look at him. 

“I know we aren’t exactly normal but –” 

“No, no.” Dean cut her off and she stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to explain. “I love you. And I love Cas. It’s just different than the white picket fence I wanted growing up. This is better.” 

She continued to stare at him. She loved both Cas and Dean but if Dean was going to question their lifestyle she would defend it to the bitter end. She loved how it was. She loved living with both of them and sleeping with both of them, waking up and seeing them both in the morning. She loved seeing them together and loved being with them. There was no other way she wanted to live her life no matter how unconventional it seemed to others it worked for them. 

The door to the apartment banged open, Castiel had one of her bags thrown over his shoulder and another in his hand. In the crook of his arm he had a little mass of black fur. His head was bowed over the creature as he came in, looking up as he kicked the door closed. 

“This little guy was stuck in a tire well, I don’t know how he got up there but I couldn’t just leave hi – Did I interrupt something?” 

Dean shook his head and glanced at Jo before standing and getting on of the bags from the other man. He took them to the laundry room, coming back out and gave the kitten in Cas’ arms a sidelong look. Dean had an eyebrow raised at the dark haired man. “You know I hate cats right?”


	2. Stay Don't Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel and Jo meet for the first time

It was his first assignment. He’d been at the Chronicle for a year or so but he had only been a companion to other journalists. This was his first assignment on his own and he was a ball of nerves. The fights were underground and not sanctioned but they weren’t illegal either. They were in a legal gray area. And he was there to cover it. 

He’d gotten ticket to the fight that weekend. Something that he was looking forward to. He’d had to talk to a few people before knowing where to get the ticket. The fight was in the warehouse district of the city. Someone converting an old warehouse into an arena and training gym for the fighters. 

Walking around, he pulled out a small camera from his bag. He hadn’t known if he would be able to cover it with his usual SLR. He circled the octagonal ring a second time. It was still empty and there were people waiting around drinking. The place smelled of beer and sweat. He would have hated the smell if he had been paying attention to it. He was too keyed up to care about anything but what was about to happen. 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be taking pictures.” A pretty blonde woman with deep brown eyes he could barely make out in the poor lighting smirked at him. She was leaning against a pillar watching him. He took in as much of her that he could before responding. Wrapped hands, loose shirt, sweat pants. She was petite but the way she held herself made him feel like he was going to get a punch in the face if he said the wrong thing. 

“Good thing you’re the only one that knows.” He was cautious. She was a fighter, he could tell. He hadn’t realized that it was women’s mixed martial arts fighting tonight. He had only gotten a ticket for the upcoming fight night without thinking to check who was even going to be at the event. 

The smirk broadened across her face. 

“It’s about time we got an actual photographer in here. You with a mag or newspaper?” She lifted an eyebrow and waited for his response. He wasn’t sure how to respond. He’d been had already. Was he really that obvious? He had thought he had been a littler covert about the entire thing. 

“I uh, Newspaper.” He stumbled over the words. It seemed to him, she could get him kicked out and then were would he be? Without an article or a job and that was something that he did not need right now. 

“You’re cute. Maybe after my fight I’ll let you have an exclusive interview.” She gave him a final smile before shoving off from the pillar she was against and sauntering off. Castiel was left there gawking after her wondering what had just happened. Was she hitting on him? This was not something that normally happened to him. 

He recovered as a cheer went up from the crowd. There were two fighters entering the octagon. Neither of them was the blonde that he had talk to but both looked ready to fight. He tried snapping as many pictures as he could, of everything. He watched the majority of the fight through the lens of a camera. Shots after shot of grappling and punching, blood and bruises. He found himself cheering for someone, anyone to win. The chanting as one woman had the other pinned to the floor was exhilarating. He could only imagine the rush the fighters were getting if this peripheral energy was effecting him so much. 

The fight was over in two rounds with a knock out. A jab to the face and the other fighter went down and stayed down. It was impressive. The woman who had won had her gloved hands in the air, walking around the ring triumphantly as her opponent was being helped off the ground. There was a short time between the fights, time enough for Cas to run through the pictures he had taken. He had managed to take at least twenty good once that he could possibly use form that single fight. He deleted the ones that had been out of focus or too blurry or too dark. 

The next fight was the blonde he had talked to and dark haired woman. There was almost no contest between them, the blonde knocked her opponent out in the first round, laying on hard hits to the head. The dark haired woman was groaning on the floor before Cas had a chance to cheer for either, it was rather impressive he thought. 

The crowd was wildly cheering for the blonde, he heard the announcer over the crowd announcing her win. He finally got to know her name, Jo “Spitfire” Harvelle. He didn’t know where the nickname had come from but shrugged at it as he waited. The place cleared out fairly quickly after the fights were over. The two fights being the only event for the night, apparently. 

He waited around for her to night him. He didn’t know where he could find her and she had mentioned an interview but he wasn’t sure if she remembered. He was browsing through pictures on his digital camera when she came up to him again, this time in a hoodie with a back thrown over her shoulder. 

“Didn’t expect you to wait around so long.” She grinned at him as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “Idea of an interview that enticing?” 

“Uh, yeah, I don’t know much about the sport and I have an article to write along with printing the photos.” He glanced down at the camera in his hands, the picture on the screen was one of Jo throwing a punch. He turned the camera off with a click of a button and slide it into his pocket, looking up. 

“I can tell you everything you need to know, but if you don’t mind can we do it over some fries? There’s a place downtown that stays open all night and they have the best cheese fries. Did you take a cab here?” He nodded in bewilderment. “Sweet, we’ll take my truck then.” 

He followed her, blinking in surprise at how quickly the matter had been sorted. They were in her truck before he knew it and the lights of the city were rushing past the passenger side window. 

“So you what do you want to know?” They were sitting at a red light and she glanced over at him. The lights forming a strange pattern of reflections in her eyes. 

“I, uhm, I’m not exactly sure. How did… How did you get into this?” he had too many questions swirling around his head and the entire night had been a whirl wind of activity that he had just gone along with. Now sitting in her truck, he wasn’t sure where the rest of the night was going to go but he wasn’t going to resist it. It’d been a long time since he had had a night anything close to this and he was enjoying it more than he thought he would. 

“I got into a lot of fights at school. And my mom wanted that to stop so she made an arrangement, I got to take all my teenage angst out in a martial arts class and she didn’t get called to the school because I beat the shit out of some kid.” He could see her shrug slightly in the light cast from the street lights as she pulled away from the red light and continued down town. 

“Why’d you get into so many fights?” he couldn’t help himself with the question. It wasn’t for the article and that was obvious but he was so intrigued by this woman, someone who could most likely beat the shit out of him without him being able to do anything about it. 

“My dad died when I was pretty young, got made fun of a lot for that in school. Growing up in a bar with a bunch of rowdy men around didn’t really do much to help with the fighting.” Her words were light but there was something behind them that made him feel like it was the wrong time to press anything about her family or childhood. Everyone had a history and something that they didn’t want to talk about and he had a feeling this was her thing. 

“Sorry about your dad?” there was a hitch at the end of the sentence as he questioned what he was saying.

“Don’t be, it was a long time ago. You wanna know more about the actual fighting?” 

They moved on to the actual sport and away from personal topics. The history of it, how for women it was more recent and it still wasn’t as popular as men’s mixed martial arts but it was gathering more of a following. The circuit for that city was all amateurs, none of them got paid to do it, and sometimes they would move up to the pros but it wasn’t often, it was all for personal achievement. There was a camaraderie between the women who did it. There were only a few gyms in the city that they trained at, Jo worked at one as an instructor for self-defense classes aimed at women. Jo talked animatedly over a plate of fries, drinking more water than Castiel had seen anyone drink at once. It was amusing and interesting to watch her talk. She was passionate about it that was obvious. 

Leaning back in the booth she tilted her head a bit and paused. “You know I don’t think I ever got your name.” 

“Castiel Novak. Most people call me Cas though.” A smile tugged at his lips. She had been too preoccupied with talking about her passion to ask him his name, it was something he could admire. 

“Cas,” she nodded as she said the name, judging how it felt. “You’re easy to talk to, a good listener.” 

“Part of my line of work.” He shrugged off the compliment. He didn’t really think anything of it. Watching and listening had been something he had always done. He liked observing people more so than interacting with them. 

“No, no, I’ve met journalists before, you’re different.” She popped the last fry in her mouth and chewed it slowly as she eyed him. His brows furrowed but he didn’t question the statement. She stood dropping some cash on the table as a tip and payment for the food. “You’ve got what you need for the article?” 

“Yeah, I think I do.” He stood. 

“Good, now we can go back to my place.” She flashed him a smile before turning and starting for the door. 

“What?”

“Oh come on angel face, you didn’t think I started talking to you just because I knew you were a journalist, did you?” She laughed as she pushed open the door and he followed after her. He probably couldn’t explain it if he wanted to. She had something that just kept him interested, it wasn’t the fighting, it wasn’t the flirting, if anything those were things that just took him by surprise. Maybe it was her passion for things, her aggressiveness to get what she wanted in life, including him. She was full of this life that he couldn’t completely comprehend and he wanted to be able to see it more. 

He couldn’t help but laugh as she pulled him into her one bedroom apartment, almost stumbling as he kicked the door shut behind him and tripped over his shoes as he tried to kick them off. 

“What?” She smiled up at him, holding on to his hand and walking backward, pulling him further in.

“This doesn’t happen to me.” He shook his head slightly, still chuckling at the circumstances he found himself in. He let her hand go and pulled his bag over his head and let it drop to the floor. 

“Oh, I’m sure you have plenty of people wanting you just like this, they’re just too afraid to.” She pulled him toward her with the collar of his shirt. He let himself bend into the kiss. Her fingers working at the buttons of his shirt and she led him deeper into the apartment. With the help of her deft fingers, he shed the shirt and it joined his bag on the floor. 

“You do this often?” He swallowed hard, feeling her hot breath graze the stubbled skin under his jaw. 

“Only when there’s a cute photographer around.” She chuckled, the breath ticking his throat before she made a trail of kisses to his collarbone. Her mouth dragged across skin, her hand against the front of his pants where she could feel his cock hardening. 

“Must be… pr-pretty often then.” He struggled with the words, her hand distracting him. The hand moved from his pants as she laughed, she pulled back and laughed more than she had at anything the rest of the night. 

“I’m glad someone has faith in me.” She pulled off the sweatshirt and walked into the bedroom, a hand tugging at his as she walked away. “Come on.” 

Castiel padded after her, his bare feet on the hardwood floor. She had dropped the sweatshirt on the floor before pulling him close, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist, his hands on her back. She bit his lower lip before turning him and shoving him back onto the bed. 

He blinked up at her, a grin across his face. “You seem to know what you’re doing.” 

“I’ve had a little practice.” She crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. She pulled the sports bra she had on over her head and tossed it aside. She leaned down and kissed him again, a hand on his chest. He rolled, her arms wrapping around him as he did so. He dragged his mouth over her neck, sucking at the skin hard enough to raise a bruise. His mouth moved farther down her body, one of her hands knotting into a fist in his dark hair. 

“You’re not the only one.” He breathed against her stomach, the words rough. He pulled off her sweat pants and panties and planted kisses on her hips. 

“I can… see that.” He could hear the smile in her voice as his mouth moved to her inner thigh. Sucking the soft skin elicited a sigh of pleasure mixed with laughter. He rocked back, kneeling between her legs. His fingers fumbling with the belt and buttons on his pants. Her fingers joined his, “Let me help you with that.” 

Dropping his hands she had the buttons undone quicker than she had done his shirt. She smiled up at him as she pulled the pants and boxers down. He swallowed hard again when she took his cock in her firm grip. “Th-thanks.” 

She only moved her hand a couple times before he was pushing her back onto the bed. He kissed her hard, one hand on her breast and another on her waist. She rolled him onto his back, straddling him. She moved her hips, his cock inside of her. She kissed him hard, biting his lip bottom lip. His fingers dragged down from her shoulder black to the small of her back leaving red lines. Her mouth moved to his neck as they moved against each other. The sensations building, their movements becoming rougher and more hurried. He gasped when her teeth bit down on his collarbone harder than he had anticipated. Her hips rocked against him harder. His nails dug into her shoulder blades, forming red crescents as they both came.

She lay on top of him, both of them breathing heavily. With her hands cupping his face she kissed him slowly. Resting her head on his chest, they caught their breath. He had stupid grin on his face as he lay there with her in his arms. She started to shake and at first he didn’t know what if she was crying or something else, and then he heard the laugh. She was laughing. 

“What’re you laughing at?” He asked incredulously. 

“You’re better than I thought you would be.” She continued to laugh, burring her face in his chest. He shook his head, laughing himself. He wasn’t sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult but since he had exceeded her low expectations he was going to take it as a compliment. “Sorry, newsy.” 

“Newsy?” 

“Oh come on, you never saw Newsies?” She rested her chin on his chest so she could look at him. He was being serious in his confusion. “Oh, God, I’m gonna need to educate you.” 

“Is it a movie?” It was adorable how his brows furrowed with genuine confusion. She’d never seen someone so confused over a pop culture reference before and she didn’t know if it would be painful to put up with or adorable. She figured it’d be a mix of both depending on the circumstances.

“Yeah, it was on Broadway too, ya dork.” She shook her head chuckling. “Why’d you get into journalism anyway? You go to interview me earlier, it’s my turn.” 

“Well I always liked photography. I liked being able to capture fragments of memories, be able to share them with people who weren’t there to experience them. I got a camera at a pretty early age and I just took pictures of everything.” He paused pursing his lips. “I tried to take pictures of everything anyway. But I wanted something to support myself and photojournalism seemed like a logical step. I don’t take photos just for a living. I do it to remember things, people, places. It’s never the same twice and I just wanted to be able to capture moments, like this.”

“Gee, you can kiss and got the artist thing down, now I’m sure people wanted you.” 

He couldn’t help but laugh. He had never had many suitors, it just wasn’t something that happened. Maybe it had just been something he was oblivious to. 

“Go get your camera, Cas.” 

“What?” He was caught off guard by the words. 

“Do it before I fall asleep on you and you’re trapped forever.” She rolled off him and lay on her back letting him slip out of bed. She watched him walk out of the room, enjoying the view of his ass as he walked. He came back moments later with his camera. He was taking pictures the moment he was in the room. 

“That’s not what I meant.” She covered her face with the sheets, laughing as she tried to hide. “I wanted it to be both of us.” 

He slide back into the bed and waited for her to settle down next to him, her head uncovered. He stretched out his arm with the camera in it and snapped a few pictures of them together, with her head on his chest and his stupid grin.


End file.
